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Discussion on: Windows and Linux: A Sane Discussion

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Peyton McGinnis

Windows is still by far the best platform for .NET development as a whole, even though it's been cross-platform for a few years, mostly because of tooling. Windows also still simply has a larger market share of desktop applications (correct me if I'm wrong) than other operating systems, although macOS and Linux are quickly catching up.

Linux (Arch/Gentoo in particular) is best suited for overall software development. Nowadays you can develop virtually any application on a Linux box, and programs like Wine greatly help.

So, I'm not really sure where I stand in the debate. I've used Windows extensively the past few years but have found many frustrating aspects of the OS. But, I still prefer the Windows desktop environment over XFCE/KDE/GNOME/etc.

Also, AutoHotkey.

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Jason C. McDonald

Have you ever tried Cinnamon? (It's native to Linux Mint, but also runs well on Pop!_OS)

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Peyton McGinnis

I've seen some people discuss it before and have seen some screenshots but I've never personally used it. I've never been that interested in trying Linux Mint before, but what are it's advantages over other distros? Have you used it?

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Jason C. McDonald • Edited

I used it for over a year. It has its pros and cons, but it's certainly the most Windows-like UI. Very polished interface, but with all the refined control of GNOME 3.

Personally, I like running Cinnamon on Pop!_OS, though.

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Peyton McGinnis

Awesome, I'll have to try both Mint and Pop!_OS out soon then!

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Jason C. McDonald

Cool! When you do, see this: Pop!_OS: Change the Desktop Environment

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Sean Allin Newell • Edited

When making a new small .net core api, I've actually found VS to be a little overkill compared to just VSCode. And as such, i believe the .net dev experience may be less of a factor for windows OS dominance as we move towards a unified .net with .NET 5.

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Derek D • Edited

Agreed. I work at a .NET shop as a front end dev and, while I don't write a ton of C#, I find running VS to be overkill for 90% of anything I do. The only upside I see of VS is if you REALLY need ReSharper, in which case you should just use Rider. VSCode is fast, has great Intellisense plugins and feels overall more polished than VS now days.

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